Hercules chasing Avarice from the Temple of the Muses

Ugo da Carpi
Italy
active c.1502-32

after Baldassarre Peruzzi
Italy
1481 – 1536

Hercules chasing Avarice from the Temple of the Muses
c 1516-17
chiaroscuro woodcut printed in black & beige inks on paper
Place made
Rome
Medium
chiaroscuro woodcut printed in black & beige inks on paper
Dimensions
29.8 x 22.7 cm (image)
30.0 x 22.9 cm (support)
Credit line
David Murray Bequest Fund 1949
Accession number
4910G163
Signature and date
Signed in block, l.l., "BAL.SEN"; l.r., "PERVGO". Not dated.
Catalogue raisonne
B.XII.133.12.ii; Johnson (1982) 5 (only state)
Media category
Print
Collection area
European prints

  • WALL LABEL: A Beautiful Line: Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi, 2012

     

    Coloured woodcuts – called chiaroscuro woodcuts – evolved from the taste for chiaroscuro drawings – highly finished presentation drawings made on coloured paper with white highlights. Invented in Germany, the highly laborious and exacting woodcut technique was introduced into Italy in 1516 by Ugo da Carpi. This work  depicts an episode from Greek mythology. From the tangle of limbs, the outstretched arm of Hercules can be seen wielding a club against a woman, the personification of Avarice. Hercules is surrounded by the nine Muses, of which Euterpe can be identified by her lute and Melpomene by her mask. Seated at the left is Apollo, who holds a lyre, while Minerva, in a helmet and armour, stands behind him.

     

    Maria Zagala, Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs

  • A beautiful line. Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 20 August 2010 – 31 October 2010

  • Reimagining the Renaissance

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 20 July 2024 – 13 April 2025
  • [Book] Hinterding, Erik. Chiaroscuro Woodcuts from the Frits Lugt collection in Paris.
  • [Book] Johnson, Jan. Ugo da Carpi chiaroscuro woodcuts, Print collector.
  • [Book] Zagala, Maria. A Beautiful Line : Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi.